Monday, August 25, 2014

THE JEREMY LEDBETTER TRIO AT LULA LOUNGE

To cap off a beautiful late summer night, I attended a set of
forward thinking, rhythmic world/Latin jazz courtesy of a newly formed trio
headed by pianist (and old friend and schoolmate of mine from university days)
Jeremy Ledbetter.

In a program of mostly originals, it was like being taken on a boat
cruise to various ports of call along the Caribbean and Latin Americas,
sampling and tasting a fine gumbo of rhythms, beats, cultures, and
pleasures.

Jeremy’s compositions and playing fused elements of Thelonious Monk,
Chucho Valdes and Oscar Peterson into a style that is truly organic and
uniquely his own.Starting with Little
Bell, he cooks with a fine rhythm section of bassist Rich Brown and
percussionist Luis Orbegoso that brings a driving groove to the music and keeps
the audience wanting more of this exotic cuisine of music.

The classic Sonny Rollins composition “St. Thomas” has been taken
into a 7/4 groove that leads into a very rhythmic and tribal percussion solo by
the master of the conguero, Luis Orbegoso.“Her New Wings” features a duo with melodica and bass by Rich Brown in
which he plays chordal patterns on the bass and does effective pedaling to set
a foundation for Ledbetter’s moving melody on the melodica.His new composition “Mais Un” is a funky,
exciting Brazilian clave composition that will make you want to jump on your
feet and dance to the music, while “Two Cousins” closes the night fusing both
elements of Afro-Cuban and Reggae beats into a highly original piece.

After all these years, Jeremy Ledbetter is becoming a fine expert
and practitioner of the Latin jazz sound, and his forward thinking music should
be experienced, not just heard, whenever he plays in town.